Vexing Views
by Wordgawk
Summary: A new gift brings on some differences in opinions between Vanille and Fang.


**Author's note: Somehow, I knew I'd write something like this at one point while immersed in FFXIII. I was fascinated when I reached Oerba despite it being the barren place it was. Its remnants spoke of life and it seemed a shame not to pay tribute to that.  
**

**Story takes place before the events of FFXIII.**

* * *

Vexing Views

"It's a nice one, isn't it?"

"Hmm?" Fang, idly flipping through a novel in the reading chair of the home, lifted her head upon hearing Vanille's question. Vanille had been fiddling with some contraption since this morning. Lunch time just passed for the two girls and while everybody else in the house who dined with them bustled off for the refreshing outdoors, Vanille remained inside.

Vanille beamed a smile at Fang and picked up her toy -new, from the unfamiliar look of it- and put it in her lap. The mechanical wheeled box with binocular-type eyes made a squawk of some sort at being lifted from its comfortable standing position. "I got it today from Ghaf for helping him out with the garden. Potting and digging, whew! He told me he'd give me something for the work, but I thought he meant a snack or something like that."

Scoffing slightly, Fang put down her book on a table. "It's not exactly cuddly like those Chocobo dolls, is it?"

"It's fun to play with. Bhakti has been very informative." As if realizing the hefty weight of metallic components wasn't doing her lap any favors, Vanille put down her gift on the floor with a grunt.

"You've given it a name?" Fang didn't understand how everything got names. Only people did. And ravenous monsters about to tear her limbs apart. Always good to put identification on dangerous monsters.

Vanille, on the other hand, thought naming non-sentient life was the norm, as she gave Fang an expression Fang could only describe as unbelievable skepticism. "Well, sure. I can't call it 'that rolling thing', can I?"

In agreement, Bhakti rotated in a circle. Fang got up and walked over to study it more closely. Its tubular eyes followed her movement as she neared them. Impressive. "What can the little tin can do?"

"It's not a tin can. Bhakti can tell me a lot of facts about the world thanks to some ingenious programming." Vanille pressed a button and a screen popped up. She studied the menus and pressed an option. "Ooh, random fact of the day."

"'The word Oerba contains the word 'bar''," Fang crouched down to read aloud. "Fascinating."

Vanille giggled. "Ok, so not all the facts are the best. Give the guy a break."

Fang straightened and shot Vanille her own version of unbelievable skepticism. "Vanille, unless Bhakti has a soul, it's a machine."

"He does have a soul. You've gotta look deeper."

Sighing at the brewing of Vanille's stubbornness which Fang did not want to heat up into argument, Fang began to walk to the front door. Some air would do her good. "I'm going for a stroll. Coming?"

"You go on. I was reading a cool article I wanna finish." Vanille swiveled around to her personal computer.

Fang waved a farewell and stepped out.

* * *

Wandering the village was a fantastic idea. Crisp air, a world of colors to see from all the flowers and banners lining the paths and homes, and sounds of activity from shopkeepers and wanderers alike.

Fang felt better. In fact, she felt generous enough to pick up Vanille an Oerba Surprise, a shelled pastry with a random sweet ingredient as filling. Vanille loved these buns. There always seemed to be some new filling whenever they visited the stand, which intrigued an Oerba Surprise lover such as Vanille. Fang didn't eat these as often as the maniac Vanille did, but she liked them.

Fang took the small paper bag from the proprietor. She was palming loose change when Vanille walked up, her shoulders slumped.

"Hey, look what I got." Fang wiggled the warm bag in front of Vanille's oddly drawn face. Vanille was probably disappointed at not coming with her here. Picking the Surprise she wanted was what she looked forward to the most.

Vanille didn't cheer up instantly, but she did smile and focus on the treats. "That's good. Want to have them at the docks?"

"Our usual spot, eh? Sure." Fang led the way. Vanille followed with dragging steps. They didn't speak for the couple minutes it took to get to their seaside view. Once they settled down on one of the isolated bridges overlooking the ships in the harbor, Fang nudged Vanille. "What's eating you? 'cause we're supposed to be doing the eating." She opened the bag and offered it for Vanille to get first dibs.

Vanille reached in and plucked a pastry. She looked at it for a moment before biting in. "Bhakti broke."

Fang was chewing on her own snack when she paused at Vanille's dire words. "That doesn't sound good. What happened? It ran fine when I left."

"I must have played too long or something. Bhakti got really hot, then shut off. I tried to turn the power on, but nothing."

So much for the new member of their already huge 'family'. Fang didn't really care if Bhakti stayed or not, but Vanille was taking her loss hard. Fang nibbled in silence.

"I went to Ghaf to ask him to fix it, but he said he isn't too versed in mechanics. He knows basics, but not enough to dismantle Bhakti and put him back together in working order. Oh, Fang, what do I do?"

"One less thing to clutter up the house, I say." Fang shrugged. She was always tripping over something on the floor.

"I can't believe you said that." Vanille's bottom lip poked out. She took a huge bite and her cheeks puffed out.

"It's true. The house isn't a storeroom and it's already full enough with people and the furniture as it is."

Vanille finished her bun. Her eyebrows were knitted. "So you think Bhakti is nothing else but a waste of space?"

"Yeah. It broke down. It hasn't even been a day since you got it and it's dead. It's shoddy craftsmanship." Fang's words were never truer.

Vanille's mouth flattened to a hard, thin line. Her eyes blazed as she glared icily at Fang. "That's all you can say? It's not made well?" Vanille stood up, her fists balled at her sides. "Bhakti was like a friend, and- aw, never mind."

Fang's mouth opened when Vanille spun away to leave, then she slowly closed it. She wasn't even sure what she was going to protest, if it was her place to do it. Fang thought Bhakti was junk; obviously, Vanille thought otherwise.

So when the red-haired girl stomped off, Fang sat there and stared blankly out at the wavering ocean waters.

Minutes ticked by before Fang shook her head to clear it. Screw this, Vanille was going to have to accept Bhakti was a malfunctioning heap of junk now that it croaked. What more could be done?

Fang grabbed the bag of leftover pastries and heard the crinkle of the crunchy paper. She glanced in it and saw the bag's unusually full state. The bag was normally treatless when she and Vanille made their trips here.

She stared into the mini abyss of darkness, tapping her foot impatiently. Something hot flared in Fang's chest. Nothing to be done?

Raising her eyes in contemplation, Fang shut the bag and walked back to the busy heart of town. She had another trip to make.

* * *

Morning came. When Fang awoke, she beelined to the fridge in hopes to drink something really potent to wake her senses.

"Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang! Guess what? Bhakti's back!"

Attempting not to fall over from Vanille's joyous shaking of Fang's elbow when she stepped in front of the fridge, Fang steadied herself by planting her feet. "Whoa, what's going on?"

"He's running again! I can't believe it. It's a miracle." Vanille hopped from foot to foot, pointing down at the puttering Bhakti who was happily watching Fang and flapping its clunky strips of eyelids at her.

Fang tried not to sound as excited as Vanille as she opened the door and stuck her head in to check her liquid options. "That's great. I guess all it needed was a rest."

"Maaaybe," Vanille responded in a sly tone that was certainly going to border on thankfulness. That meant a potential red face on Fang's end. Better stay in the fridge longer.

Behind Fang's back, Vanille began marching around Bhakti, speaking as if she were telling Fang a mystery. "So I woke up this morning and I found him working. I didn't turn on the power."

"Maybe one of the others bumped the switch. You know all that running around they do." The Yurwup juice looked alluringly fresh.

When Fang finally turned around with a bottle in hand, Vanille smiled. "Bhakti also has some new parts."

"Really? Kids and their tinkering." Fang kept her voice smooth as she snagged a cup and dumped the juice in, splashing the sides a little.

Those kinds of additions required a lot of legwork. Finding someone mechanically inclined to fix Bhakti would take up one's evening. Not to mention solving Bhakti's breakdown problem without tipping off Vanille was a challenge all its own. Not that Fang did anything.

Fang had just enough time to slide her glass onto the counter when Vanille leaped at her and hugged her around the waist. The affectionate girl's green eyes shone like the dapple of sunlit dew on forest leaves.

"If you find out who fixed Bhakti, thank them for me, will you? Thank them with allll my heart. Tell them even though they might act like a dummy, I know they aren't."

Fang grinned when Vanille began laughing and the taller woman ruffled Vanille's curly hair. Fang took Vanille by the shoulders and turned her around in the direction of Bhakti. The mechanical mover blipped at them, wanting input. Fang peered down at it, and Vanille at her in wonder.

"Show me another fact."

- THE END -


End file.
